“Go and deal with them. You did well. I shall comfort the ladies. And someone please clean up this terrible mess!”
Junayd retrieved his knife and the two of them loped off. “Remind me to never to cross the Lady Jannat… ever!” he panted as they ran. Dar’an snorted with amusement.
“Nor the Lady Rav’an!” he replied as they skipped down the steps, avoiding the crumpled corpse at the bottom. “We must make sure the one we capture doesn’t kill himself before we talk to him,” Junayd said, when they had snatched up their bows in passing.
He waved to the servants and attendants. “You are safe now, but you must go upstairs and attend Lady Rav’an and the Lady Jannat. Go!” he ordered them. After a frozen moment, they scampered to obey.
The two companions employed several of their fellow comrades and men-at-arms to keep a watch on the assassins in the bailey; they were most concerned about more assassins getting into the castle by stealth.
The remaining assassins knew they had lost every advantage of surprise and disguise. Dar’an and Junayd shouted down to them that they could surrender, but both knew the unwelcome visitors would not allow themselves to be captured.
The assassins then began to kill some of the villagers, but well aimed arrows from Junayd and the other companions killed one of them and wounded another. The remaining two retreated to the far end of the courtyard, leaving their comrades lying on the ground. Immediately Dar’an ordered the gate to the main courtyard opened, and the remaining villagers poured through. There were now only two men and the wounded man left.
“Kill them, Junayd,” Dar’an said, knowing that Reza would have ordered it. “We keep the wounded man.”
And so it was done.
The gristly task had just been completed and the wounded man picked up by the men-at-arms when a new danger manifested. One of the men on the lookout to the south towards Famagusta gave a warning shout.
“Bind his wound and take him to the dungeons,” Dar’an ordered, but just as the men-at-arms were turning to leave with the prisoner, something Talon had once said occurred to him. “Search him! Now!” he barked at them. The men-at-arms dropped their charge none too gently on the ground and searched him all over. They turned up a knife. “How did you know?” Junayd asked, surprised.
“Lord Talon knows of these things. He mentioned it once,” Dar’an said. “Come, there is another alarm!” They hurried up to the parapet to stare out in the direction the sharp-eyed sentry indicated. There, in the distance, on the road that led to Famagusta, well below the castle, was a cloud of dust, and it was sizable.
“Seems we have unwelcome company from every quarter,” Dar’an commented. His sense of unease grew. What was going on?
“Sound the alarms. Inform my Lady Rav’an of what is happening, Junayd. Gregory!” he called, as Junayd rushed off, “get every able-bodied man onto the ramparts. We have visitors and I do not think they are welcome.”
Gregory bellowed orders to his men, who sorted out the villagers, pushing the bewildered men and boys towards the steps that led up to the ramparts. “Buckets of shit from the stables and the midden!” Gregory shouted. “Hurry! Bring them up here, and make sure there are plenty of rocks and other missiles.
Junayd, in the meantime, had raced back up to the private quarters of the ladies. He knuckled his forehead respectfully to Rav’an and said hastily, “Khanom, Dar’an asks that you come to the ramparts to the south. I will escort you.”
“What is it, Junayd?” Two thin lines formed between her brows. She was petting one of the two hounds lying nearby.
“We appear to have visitors from Famagusta, Khanom. Dar’an is making preparations for them.”
You mean unwelcome visitors, Junayd?” Jannat said with a concerned look. She had just re-entered the room.
“Yes, Khanom. I fear so.” He nodded briefly. “Will you please inform Lord Reza and ask him for any advice he might have, my Lady?”
Jannat nodded. “I don’t know how we are to keep him in his bed with all this excitement going on around us,” she said to the world at large.
“He must stay there, Sister,” Rav’an said to her. “Just tell him we are going to take a look and we will let him know what is going on. Come along, Junayd.”
They arrived on the parapet to find it crowded with men-at-arms instructing the village boys and young men in their duties. Piles of rocks were growing, and there was a noxious stink from the buckets placed strategically along the south ramparts, which caused Rav’an to wrinkle her nose. As soon as she was seen, everyone stopped what they were doing and knelt respectfully. She realized that she was expected to say something and cleared her throat. Her thoughts were outpacing her words, like deer dodging and jinking as they fled from hunters. With a fierce effort of will she forced herself to be calm, and then spoke.
“Some of you have already lost loved ones to the pirates. It would seem that they were trying to work in concert with men from the Emperor, who are now on their way to attack us. They have not succeeded so far, and we have the opportunity to surprise these new unwelcome visitors. Do as you are instructed and fight hard. God protect all of you!” she turned away as the cheering started, to be hastily suppressed by Gregory and his men.
“We must surprise them!” they called out. “Silence!”
“My Lady, please come to the tower over by the main entrance,” suggested Junayd. “That way we can observe without being in the way.”
“Where is Dar’an?” she asked, looking around. Several of the trainees that formed Reza’s group of young men were also missing.
“Here I am, my Lady,” Dar’an called out. His arms were full of the deadly tubes he was so fond of throwing at people, while his men gingerly carried boxes filled with round objects that looked like spherical jugs with something sticking out of them. He noticed her look.
“Greek Fire, my Lady. A very pleasant surprise for anyone who decides to attack.” He threw a glance at the distinct shape of the Scorpion squatting nearby. We have two of these, and then there is the trebuchet.” He nodded his head towards the bailey, where the huge frame stood unattended.
She smiled. “You think of everything. But we are not sure yet, are we, that they are the enemy?”
“I’d bet Junayd’s bow on it, my Lady.”
Junayd scowled at this jape. “It was something the assassin said that warned us. They were hoping to gain control of the gates and to open them for allies they expected. Not just the pirates.” Junayd pointed down the slope. “They are hopelessly late for their appointment, so it is our turn to surprise them.” His eyes gleamed with excitement at the coming confrontation.
Rav’an regarded him and Dar’an with affection. “Talon would be proud of you two,” she stated. “I am confident we can overcome this new danger with your help.”
Both men’s stern, dark features went darker still as they flushed with embarrassment and pleasure. “Will you be staying, Khanom?” Dar’an asked.
“I shall indeed. You and the hounds will protect me.” She smiled and fondled the ears of one of the large dogs, which had followed them onto the ramparts.
“Very well, my Lady, but please do not stand too close to the parapet if they come this far. Their crossbowmen can be very accurate at short range,” Junayd warned her.
“I shall do as you ask. Now, can we see what they are about?”
“They are in a hurry. They must know they are late and are still hoping for success, I suspect,” Dar’an muttered, as he stacked his deadly little treasures against the wall.
“Gregory! Get every one out of sight,” he called to the Greek soldier. “No one is to move until I drop my tube.” The soldier waved back from his position on the eastern wall. They then waited in tense silence as they observed the approaching horsemen, who were flogging their mounts up the hill towards the junction of the roads. When they reached the turn, they halted briefly and milled about.
“Their messenger is not there to greet them,” Dar’an mutt
ered. Despite their evident concern, someone must have issued an order, for the riders began to gallop along the narrow track that led along the southern walls of the castle, making for the main gates. Everyone crouched behind the ramparts could hear the thunder of approaching hooves and the voices riders calling to one another as they galloped confidently towards their goal. From their perch on the tower, Dar’an and Rav’an could overlook the road and its approaches. They glanced at one another. She raised an eyebrow as though to say, When?
“We let them come close, my Lady, and that time is… now!” He struck a flint and the stream of sparks struck the fuse of his bomb. The hounds whimpered with fear and crouched as far away as possible. Dar’an held the weapon, spluttering and hissing, then stood up and tossed it casually over the ramparts. “Keep down, my Lady,” he cautioned, holding his fingers to his ears.
Rav’an grimaced and copied him, her eyes wide. The boom followed quickly, shaking the air around them. No sooner had Dar’an’s infernal device gone off, wrecking death and destruction below, than the ramparts erupted with men and boys of every age hurling rocks and pushing boulders over the ramparts to crash into the terrified horses and men. Some riders were unhorsed as their mounts bucked and reared. Others were hammered by the falling missiles, some of which struck the outcroppings of the walls and rebounded to slam into the riders from their flank, maiming and wounding.
Junayd hurled a smoking Greek Fire bomb into the chaos below, creating even further havoc. Some of the villagers, emboldened by their success, began shouting imprecations and taunts and tossed effluence onto the nearest riders, thereby adding insult to injury. It quickly became evident to the survivors that there was no hope of surprise, and the shouts of anticipated victory turned to shouts of dismay and calls to retreat.
Those that could whirled their horses and spurred them savagely over the corpse-littered roadway, seeking escape. It was a fearsome gauntlet, and only half of the original number made it back to the junction, for the bowmen on the ramparts had clear shots at their unguarded backs. The survivors urged their mounts down the pathway heading towards Famagusta.
“Dar’an!” Rav’an called over the noise and screams. Her ears were numb from the noise.
“Yes, my Lady?” he was right there with an exuberant Junayd, who was almost as ready to dance as the jubilant villagers. “Use the trebuchet. Use it, Dar’an!” Rav’an shouted.
He blinked, and then an almost feral grin crossed his dark features. “Yes, Khanom. At once! Come on, Junayd. Bring some men.” He snatched up one of the bombs and they rushed down the steps to the bailey. Rav’an waited impatiently on the ramparts, watching the panicked enemy galloping headlong down the road. She glanced down at the frantic preparations about the trebuchet.
“Come on. Come on!” she exclaimed, impatiently pounding the stone with the underside of her clenched fist as she watched the distance shrink between the foremost riders and the flat space that marked where Talon and Reza had sent many practice missiles. As the distance closed, Junayd raced up to join her. “All ready, my Lady. Shall I call it?”
Rav’an glared at the fleeing riders. “No, Junayd, I want to call it.”
Those plunderers would not be allowed to simply flee. She wanted to teach them a lesson they would never forget.
Gauging the distance against the time it took the fearsome weapon to loft a boulder into the air, she raised her arm. Then she brought it down sharply. Dar’an lit the fuse of the bomb seated in the cradle, then hauled off the lever that retained the long arm.
The arm hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then the huge bar whirled in a long arc up, carrying its deadly package with it. A thin streak of smoke trailed behind, which reassured Dar’an that his fuse was still lit. The Counter weight, barrels full of sand, thumped into the ground, the arm pivoted and slammed into its padded stop. The bomb, hissing like some creature from hell, was hurled high into the air over the heads of the people on the ramparts, who cringed as it sped overhead, and then they all stared intently in the direction it was expected to fall.
Dar’an had ducked out of the way after releasing the lever. He was never sure if the whole contraption would shatter into pieces when it operated. But it held together, and when the missile cleared the walls he raced up the stairs to join the others. Rav’an noted with dismay that most of the riders had passed the flat space. To her chagrin she had misjudged the timing. But then the watchers on the ramparts saw something astonishing. A dark streak fell directly in among the riders, who were all just past the flat space. They saw a flash go off right in the midst of the distant group, and felt a small concussion in the air just before they heard the distant explosion. Luck or skill, they had achieved their objective.
Rav’an and her two attendants gasped. She was still getting over her surprise when Dar’an said, “My Lady seems to have an unexpected skill with this device.” He laughed, shook his head in amazement, and slapped his thighs with delight. Then both he and Junayd forgot themselves and did a small skipping dance, linking arms and crowing with glee. The cheering began from all around on the walls. This time the noise was wild and joyful. Men waved their hats and weapons in the air. Rav’an herself was silent, mostly with surprise, but she smiled with her lips pursed, and her eyes were wide with triumph.
Collecting herself, she looked down at the tiny dark figures strewn about on the hillside. “Someone must go down there and deal with them,” she told the happy companions, who could not stop grinning.
“And you can stop behaving like a pair of monkeys right now,” she admonished them, a smile tugging at her mouth. They both sobered up quickly and ducked their heads respectfully.
“Yes, my Lady. We will deal with them at once,” Dar’an said, trying but failing to keep the grin off his face.
“I wonder if it is over now?” Rav’an asked herself. She left the ramparts to find Jannat and Theodora and tell them what had befallen. Her two faithful attendants proudly escorted her all the way.
Ah, Talon, she thought, as they made their way down the steps and then across the crowded courtyard full of cheering villagers and their own men-at-arms, Where are you? It is you who should be here doing this, not I. How I miss you!
It took an immense effort of will to walk calmly up the steps that led to the main doors of the hallway. Everyone in the courtyard had by now learned what had occurred and regarded her as endowed with the same magic as her husband. Some crossed themselves surreptitiously while others called out greetings, but most cheered her all the way to the doorway.
She turned, smiled and waved at them, then said, “Dar’an and Junayd, I leave you in charge. Please let me know as soon as Max and my son return. Thank you both.” Rav’an turned away and entered the gloom of the hall, accompanied by the hounds. While they padded ahead of her she leaned against the cool stone of the entrance wall and found that she was shaking and close to tears, but there was a sense of exhilaration too.
“What would they have done to us had they gained entry?” she asked herself, after which she felt stronger. She wondered what kept Talon away for so long. Praying that he was still alive—surely she would sense it were he not—she dashed away the tears, then climbed the stone stairs, glancing down as she passed at the wet places where the servants had cleaned away the blood of the dead assassin. It reinforced her resolve. Gathering her skirts in both hands, she went up the stairs to her family.
When she arrived at the Solarium, Jannat silently presented her with a message from Dimitri’s pigeon, warning of something dire about to happen, he knew not what.
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Chapter 20
A Pyrrhic Victory
Fill the bright goblet, spread the festive board!
Summon the gay, the noble, and the fair!
Through the loud hall, in joyous concert pour'd,
Let mirth and music sound the dirge of Care!
But ask thou not if Happiness be there
—Sir Walter Scott
; Down in the valley and in the area of the port, the hunt was on for the pirate survivors. No one was inclined to give any quarter. Some of the wounded were found lying in dense bushes, where they had crawled to hide. Others were chased by dogs and men until they either gave up and surrendered or were killed by the eager bowmen on horseback, led by Rostam, who now began to appreciate the long hours of training Uncle Reza had insisted upon. The accuracy of their shooting was their testimony, as desperately fleeing men from the sea were brought down, one after the other. Then the villagers would take over and, howling like a pack of dogs, set to with knives, swords and axes; they were not in a forgiving mood.
“The pirates have fallen, but others have fled. May I go after them, Henry, Max?” Rostam asked the two men.
Henry pointed east in the direction of the same inlet that Talon had used to reconnoiter the castle. “Guy is very sure they came from there, Rostam. You will find them all heading in that direction, I am sure of it. Be careful!” he called, as the eager young man began to turn his horse.
“Do not get isolated!” Max called to Rostam as the boy galloped off. “They are like rats; they will turn on you! They have nothing to lose now!” He doubted that the boy heard him.
Max had met Henry on the outskirts of the port where Henry and his men were trying to put out the fires and prevent the total destruction of the village. Some of Henry’s men mounted and rode off to join Rostam and his horsemen.
“Impetuous young fools.” Henry shook his head, but there was pride, too, as he watched them leave. “So, Max, you came all this way down here to help me out?” He laughed and clapped Max on the shoulder. “That was nice of you, but we managed well enough.”
Max was a little chagrined. “It would seem so, Henry. But all I could see were the fires. We had no idea you had done so well. Thank God for that. Where is Guy right now?” he looked around.
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